Division 1 college athletes. Most people think we get tons of cool gear, travel a lot and receive privileges others don’t get. Others think that we have tons of friends and have a perfect balance between a social life and an academic one. But this simply isn’t true. Here’s what it’s really like to be a Division 1 athlete in college.

The days start early and end late. Your day starts with the alarm going off at 5:00am to make it in time to get to the vans to go to the boathouse. From there, practice goes until 8:30am, then breakfast, shower and off to class until you’re back at it again with lift or additional steady state (conditioning) in the afternoon. You also have to factor in time to get your study center hours done, (These are a set of required “study hall” hours that each athlete must complete by the end of the week.) when you’ll have time to eat, and how you’re going to get enough sleep. You’re never really done because you’re constantly thinking about preparing yourself for the next day.

There is no off season. You train constantly all year round, despite the weather outside. Sure, you might not be able to practice outside because the lake is frozen, but there will always be conditioning and lifting. The coaches are so obsessed with creating the strongest, toughest and most fit athletes that they will do anything to make it happen. No pain, no gain is the name of the game when it comes to rowing, especially on the division one level.

Breaks are non-existent. You might have one day off, but you’re still going to be reminded of practice by your coaches emails or going to the training room to get ice for aches and pains. You’ll still be checking data and rankings or worrying about whether or not the weather will be decent enough for practice tomorrow. One thing holds true: you’re either getting back from practice, or getting ready for the next one.

Your closest (and sometimes only) friends are those who are on your team. Since you see them so much, how could they not be? It’s hard to branch out and make non athlete friends, or “NARPS” (Non-athletic regular people) as some come to call them, because you either don’t have time for the party scene or are simply too tired to socialize.

You don’t really have privileges. You’re still expected to get everything done on time, attend practice, stay healthy and keep up with academics. The pressure can sometimes be too much, and it requires a lot of perseverance.

However, not everything is awful. For example, you will become a master at the art of time management- something that will be beneficial for many years to come. You will become disciplined and focused. As well, it is easy to argue that college rowers are the most in-shape people on campus. Between the double practices and the inherent rigor of the sport itself, you will find yourself to be at a level of fitness one can only dream of. Finally, rowing is the epitome of a team sport. It can be compared to 8 men hitting a golf ball at the exact same time with the exact same swing, all while standing on a balance beam. Each rower is working together in true unison to propel the boat forward as fast as possible. This leads to a boat not only being a team, but a family.